Yunnan railways see soaring freight volume

Freight traffic on Yunnan railways saw a dramatic increase of 8.1% annually during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), sending 296 million tons of cargo in total, said the local railway department.

Over the past five years, Yunnan province kicked off seven railway projects and put into operation 11 projects, with railways in service extended from 2,974 km to 4,123 km.

Located at the intersection of the Belt and Road cooperation and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Yunnan borders directly to the ASEAN nations of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, through which the province can gain access the rest of Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

To better cooperate with provinces along the Yangtze economic belt, Yunnan railway department launched freight trains to Europe and central Asia, while increasing connectivity with neighboring countries.

The first cargo train between China and Asia started operation on December 18, 2017, carrying chemical fertilizer goods from Yunnan to Vietnam. It provided raw materials and market guarantee for the production and operation of enterprises of the two countries.

Over the past three years since the Central Asian train service was launched, China and Vietnam have operated a total of 2752 freight trains, carrying a total of 1.0763 million tonnes of goods.

The freight train route between Yunnan and Vietnam is China's first cross-border railway and the most convenient land-sea passage for South and Southeast Asian countries.

It is noted that the freight train service has achieved stable operation through applying fixed loading location, operation route, arrival and departure time and transport costs, and has realized smooth convection of international logistics transportation between China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and other Asian countries.

Reporting by Hu Xiaorong (Yunnan Daily); with inputs from Xinhua